Jordis Unga's "Voice" heard loudly on Kickstarter

It’s nice to see that Jordis Unga isn’t sitting around griping, which she certainly has grounds to do. A month after she got kicked off NBC’s “The Voice” in an unpopular “surprise twist” -- and a few years after enduring a major-label record deal that never went anywhere and another TV competition, "INXS: Rock Star" -- the Forest Lake native and Twin Cities club scene vet finally took matters into her own hands and started up a Kickstarter campaign earlier this week to finance her “dream record.” The results have already surpassed her dream.

Just three days into her goal to raise $33,300 in 33 days, Unga has raised more than $45,000 -- and counting. She plans to put the money toward all facets of releasing her own album, including mastering, artwork, promotion, etc. Among the items she is auctioning off for the Kickstarter support are the shoes she wore in one of the battle rounds she won on NBC, as seen in the video posted below (alas, someone already snatched them up).

“You know that this has been a long time in the making,” Unga says in the description on her pledge page, where she promises a record that “will come straight from my heart.” She also talks about her controversial dismissal from “The Voice,” when each coach was abruptly required to dismiss one of their team members before the public had a chance to vote. Blake Shelton chose Jordis, who admits the decision “still stings.”

“Although I understand the thought process behind my departure, it hurt because I dedicated my appearance on the show to all of you,” she says, “and when it got down to it, you didn’t even get a chance to vote.”